


believe it's the fright

by chipstaylor



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn, Spencer is 33 so technically takes place during s9 but that doesn't really matter, Strangers to Enemies to Lovers, oc is an intern with the bau, title from the song 'tear you apart', which is a very spencer/vanessa song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:53:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24587893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chipstaylor/pseuds/chipstaylor
Summary: vanessa langdon, though horribly unqualified, somehow lands a gig interning for the bau department in quanitco. already nervous beyond belief about starting her new job, the first person she meets seems determined to make her time with the team a living hell.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. week one

**Author's Note:**

> because the internship period with the fbi is ten weeks, this is going to be a ten part fic with each part being a new week. i always wanted spencer to have a girl in his life who wouldn't kind of baby him like the rest of his friends do and also love the idea of opposites attract when it comes to such a specific character like him. i also think spencer can unknowingly be a bit of a dick sometimes and we never really talk about that, so here's to exploring that side of his person a bit more.
> 
> this first chapter acts more as a prologue, introducing you to the characters and circumstances. im also posting this on my tumblr (hotchslut) as a y/n series, if that's more your style. next chapter will have more of vanessa and spencer interacting and working together. please enjoy!! <33

The goal was simple. Finish the 10 week internship at the Quantico division of the FBI without screwing everything up. Hopefully, she’d leave a positive enough impression to secure a job for herself immediately after. Realistically, she knew she would end up barely scraping by, but at least she’d have enough practical experience to write a believable award winning screenplay about the ins and outs of a special agents life. 

She knew she wasn’t in the right field. She was basically just a film student. But after graduating from a school she hadn’t even left her hometown to attend, she was desperate for some real life experiences, and how many people could say they had worked with the FBI, even for just a little bit? Her electives in journalism and visual arts had been enough to meet the internship requirements, her GPA was undeniably impressive thanks to a fairly easy course load, and no one could argue that she was one hell of an interviewee. So there she was, all alone in a new state, walking into the biggest and most intimidating building she had ever stepped foot in, to start working an internship she wasn’t even sure how she booked. She had been told it was her passion which had gotten her there, but she couldn’t help but thinking about how painfully stupid the other applicants must have been to allow her to be in this position.

“What floor?”  
As she stepped into the elevator she looked up to see a man, she assumed was only a little older than herself, with his fingers hovering over the buttons. She was shocked, or maybe annoyed - which definitely translated to jealous - that someone so young could have such a stable career already. He must be another intern.  
“Six, thank you,” she said, a little louder than she intended. The man pressed the button but looked at her with hesitance.  
“Are you sure?” He asked, still waving his fingers near the buttons, as if he was waiting for her to correct herself so he could make sure she got to the correct floor.  
Fuck. This is exactly what she had been worried about. She had checked her introductory email 3 times just on the walk from the front door to the elevator so she could be absolutely certain she was heading to the right floor. “Uh, yeah, I can check the email again,” her voice wandered off as she pulled out her phone to quadruple check. The elevator was going up quite quickly, like a ticking clock, as she scrolled to find the information she was looking for before they arrived. “Yeah, no, it’s the 6th floor.” she turned her phone for him to look at, but he didn’t, he just looked at her. There was nothing she hated more than a starer.  
“My bad,” he said excruciatingly slowly. “I’m Spencer. I guess I’ve just never seen you around.”  
Guess that meant he wasn’t an intern. Something about him was putting her off. She had hardly spoken a word to him and she could already feel his raging superiority complex. “Well, it’s my first day,” she explained as the elevator doors opened. He started to walk out, giving her a faint smile. 

Spencer made his way over to his desk, briefly looking back at Vanessa to make sure she was out of ear shot. She was standing uncomfortably, looking at her phone, which he assumed she was using as a shield to mask that she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing.  
“What’s with the new girl?” He asked JJ and Derek who were already seated.  
JJ almost instantly perked up. “I didn’t know we were getting a new girl,” she confessed, looking over at Vanessa, who was still in the same position.  
“She’s a little underdressed for her first day, don’t you think?” Spencer judged. The three of them started examining her, with little to no subtlety. 

Vanessa had been anxious about this. She spent three hours the night prior, trying to decide on an outfit that she thought would be appropriate. Everything she tried on either felt under or over dressed, and in the end she felt that comfort was the most important thing. Besides, in ten weeks time, no one was going to remember what she wore on her first day. 

So there she stood, at the front of the bullpen terrified, in a black crewneck with a collared shirt underneath, french tucked into some black mom jeans and vans on her feet. She had absolutely no idea where to go. All she knew was she had to find Aaron Hotchner’s office, as she was supposed to be shadowing him for her time there. She quickly read and reread the email, trying to find any hint of where Hotchner’s office could be. She didn’t look up until she sensed someone walking straight towards her.  
“You look a little lost,” Derek said, stopping in front of her.  
A forced laugh was all she gave him, as she looked through her phone. She didn’t want to admit that she needed help already, but when he didn’t move, she brought her eyes back up. The first thing she saw wasn’t even Derek, it was Spencer, sitting at his desk, looking right at her. Why was this guy so weird? Did he send this other guy to check in on her? “I’m, uh, looking for Aaron Hotchner’s office,” she finally explained, turning to Derek for some unwanted but highly needed help.  
“Just up there,” he explained, pointing to one of the only offices even in the room. His voice was soft, and she didn’t feel judged by him for not knowing anything. “I’m Derek.” He held out his hand, which Vanessa was happy to take.  
“I’m Vanessa,” she shook his hand with a genuine smile. “I like that you shake.” She wasn’t sure why she said that, and tried to fix it with a simple, “Thank you,” before nodding towards him and heading up to Hotchner’s office. 

The door was closed, which left her feeling more uneasy than it should have. Didn’t he know she was coming? It would have been a lot less threatening if he had just left it open for her to peak her head in. Nothing about this experience had been exactly welcoming thus far.  
After some hesitation, she finally knocked on the door. Definitely louder than she meant to. As she waited for someone to open the door, she could feel eyes on the back of her head. She wasn’t sure if it was because Spencer was actually still looking at her, or if it was just the feeling he left her with. He was like a spider in the distance that once you see, you can suddenly feel crawling all over you. Luckily these thoughts and feelings were interrupted when Hotch opened the door and ushered her in.  
“Hello, Langdon, come in. Take a seat. I’m Aaron Hotchner, it’s great to have you with us,” he remarked, waiting for her to take a seat before he followed suit behind his desk. Vanessa thanked him quietly before he continued, “Langdon, I have-”  
“I am so sorry to interrupt, but I kind of hate that, so can you just call me Vanessa,” she pleaded, laughing slightly so he knew she wasn’t trying to be mean.  
Hotch was taken aback, but politely obliged before explaining the role she would be taking on with the BAU. He was about halfway through speaking with her, when she realized she had not been processing any of the information she was being given. She couldn’t help it - she was a visual learner and Hotch was doing nothing to accommodate that. Not that she thought it was his fault, either.  
“I know you passed all your training very well, but obviously you’re not cleared to be in the field, so when I do have to leave with the team, we’ll have you stay behind to work on the paperwork and be a resource to us here,” Hotch paused, noticing how overwhelmed she looked by all the information.  
They maintained silent eye contact while Vanessa tried to process everything before piping up. “Can I have a gun?”  
Hotch continued to look her in the eyes. Always the profiler, he was irritated that he couldn’t read if she was joking. Taking a risk in assuming she was, he wittily replied, “When you solve your first case.”  
“Deal.” She smiled in return, as she noticed Hotch’s lips curl just slightly as well. She could tell he was going to be a tough one to completely break, but she was willing to accept that challenge.  
“Now, unfortunately we don’t have any active cases for you to look through,” he began again before being interrupted by his phone beeping. He immediately looked down and sighed, “I stand corrected.”  
Vanessa laughed, a genuine laugh before remarking, “I was literally just going to say, how funny would it be if that was a case coming in.”  
Hotch didn’t react, he just grabbed his things and stood up, prompting Vanessa to do the same. 

Everyone had gathered around the round table, with Garcia standing in front, ready to present the case, when Hotch and Vanessa walked in. “Everyone, this is Vanessa Langdon, she’ll be joining the team as an intern, she’s been assigned to shadow me,” Hotch introduced the girl who observed the room full of people. She quickly grew uncomfortable when she saw Spencer, giving her a quizzical look. Hotch continued to introduce everyone by name, but Vanessa was hardly listening. “And this is Doctor Spencer Reid,” he finished off.  
“We’ve met,” she spat coldly, earning a head nod from the apparent doctor. She quickly noticed there were only two remaining seats, one of which was next to Spencer. Before she could get moving, Hotch began walking over the other seat, across the table. She stepped forward, trying not to broadcast the reluctance she was feeling. As she moved to get comfortable she saw Spencer trying to give her a welcoming smile through her periferal, but her stubborn nature forced her not to acknowledge it.  
“Alright, if everyone’s settled and comfortable, you won’t be for very long,” Garcia spoke with slight disgust of what she knew she was about to say, “Thomas Victor, 37, found dead in his girlfriend's kitchen.”  
The team all leaned forward slightly as Garcia put up photos of the victim and crime scene. Vanessa was the only one smiling; she had never seen crime scene photos in real time before. Being a fan of horror and true crime, she found this to be almost fun. It wasn’t until she noticed Spencer noticing that she herself noticed, and had to remind herself this was, in fact, real, and probably not something to get too giddy over.  
“Zoom in on the neck,” Derek instructed. Garcia followed, never turning to face the screen. “Look at that stab wound.” He was right - That stab wound to the neck was nasty… And oddly circular.  
“What could’ve caused something like that?” JJ pondered out loud.  
Garcia’s eyes lit up before remarking, “Aha. That we know. There was a bloody corkscrew on the ground. There was also a very nice bottle of red on the counter, so my guess is the unsub caught poor old Thomas preparing some wine for him and his lady and-” She shrugged, allowing the team to infer the rest.  
“Where’s the girlfriend in all of this?” JJ asked.  
“Nowhere to be found,” Garcia explained, scrunching up her face, as if she felt bad for not being able to help out any further.  
Hotch sat up straight, asking, “Garcia, what more do we know about the victim?”  
“Relatively low risk. Worked a 9-5 office job downtown. Rumour on the street is, he had just started seeing this girl, um, Melaney,” Garcia looked down at her notes, “Paulinchuck. Friends say they had been talking on an online dating site for just a couple days before meeting for the first time. Last night was supposed to be their 5th date.”  
“You know, with online dating on the rise, so are the numbers of first dates resulting in violent crime,” Spencer chimed in, adjusting himself in his seat, “Just in the last five years alone, reports of abuse and even murder spiked drastically within the online dating community.” Just as Vanessa thought he was about to shut up, he just kept going. “In fact, police in the UK are dealing with approximately 20 online dating related crimes a week. You hate to think about how bad it could be here in America, a statically more violent country.” He nodded to himself and sucked both of his lips in, waiting for a response from anyone.  
“Very cool, Spencer,” Vanessa whispered sarcastically, hopefully not loud enough for everyone to hear.  
JJ tried backing him up by adding, “So, there’s a fairly high chance this missing girlfriend is actually our unsub.”  
The team started bouncing ideas off each other while Garcia kept spewing off potentially helpful information, but for the life of her Vanessa could not focus. She didn’t want to fuck up her first case by not being able to recall important information from this initial meeting, but if Spencer clicked his pen one more time…  
“We’ve got a lot of digging to do on both the victim and his girlfriend. Wheels up in 30,” Hotch eventually announced. Everyone stood quite hastily, going to grab their things and head to the plane. Garcia stayed put, gathering all of her things, while Spencer seemed to be moving at the pace of an injured turtle. Vanessa just sat, relatively unsure of what she was to be doing. She knew she was to stay at the headquarters and process the paperwork from the case and be readily available to help the team in any way she could from her position, but there wasn’t exactly anything to work on until they actually arrived on the scene. She didn’t even have a desk.  
Not wanting to look like she was stalling from getting any work done, she decided to strike up a conversation with Spencer, who was still placing papers into his file. Without looking at him, she said, “You’re a little young to be a profiler, aren’t you?” When he didn’t immediately reply, she assumed it was because he heard it all the time and she was either boring him or accidentally offending him. Unfortunately, the curse of her anxiety forced her to continue, “I mean, I’m 22 and I’m only an intern, I can’t imagine having a whole ass career with the FBI already. And a doctorate, huh? How do you even find time to accomplish so much in so few years?”  
Spencer had finished getting himself together while she rambled, and threw his satchel over his shoulder. “Well, I’m not 22, I’m 33,” was all he gave her in response.  
Vanessa was taken aback. “Could’ve fooled me. You look 20.” She wasn’t sure if he would take that as an insult or a compliment, but she wasn’t quite sure which she meant it to be anyways.  
“But I got my first doctorate at 17, so either way,” he trailed off.  
His first doctorate. Vanessa’s blood boiled. The way he was basically standing over her and rubbing in her face just how smart he was. Not that he had actually done anything wrong, she knew he was just answering the questions she had initially asked, but she hated people who were smarter than her. More, she hated people who were smarter than her and weren’t shy about letting her know. Granted, she knew she wasn’t all that intelligent, so most people were significantly smarter anyways, but she couldn’t help the way she felt.  
“I have to go. Good luck with your first case, intern. You’ll need it,” He spoke, emphasis on “you’ll” as if anyone else wouldn’t need the luck.  
Vanessa watched him leave, as if she was throwing daggers to the back of his head with her eyes. “He’ll grow on you,” Garcia smiled, about to leave the room herself, octopus mug in hand. Vanessa wanted so badly to retort with how certain she was that he wouldn’t, but refrained. She didn’t want to come across as a judgemental bitch on her first day. “I’m heading to my lair, so just holler if you need me!” 

About an hour of scrolling her facebook and instagram feeds had passed, before Vanessa decided she should probably take some initiative and get some work done. The issue was, she still didn’t know exactly what it was she was supposed to do until she got some information from a profiler. It took some internal convincing, but eventually she walked out towards the hall, looking for Garcia’s office. She figured she might have some work she needed help with, and Vanessa was happy to help until she had a task of her own. She didn’t know where her office was, but it only took a few minutes of wandering around like a fool before she found it. The door was locked and needed a keycard to open which Vanessa clearly didn’t have yet, so she knocked. She didn’t know why she was so scared, she just didn’t want to get anything wrong. It was no secret she was going to be the dumbest one on the team, and she didn’t need another thing for Spencer to have against her.  
Garcia must have been waiting, or, alternatively be a really fast runner, because the door opened almost immediately. “Yes, hello, how may I assist you padawan?”  
“Um, I don’t really have anything to work on yet, so I thought maybe you could make use of me? I also, uh, don’t have, like, a desk, or space, to set up,” Vanessa laughed as if she was telling a joke, which she wasn’t, but the nerves were building up.  
Garcia lit up, radiating enthusiasm. “Yes, yes of course,” she practically squealed, ushering Vanessa into her office and pulling up a chair. “We will get you to work right away, and I’ll set you up with a desk immediately after. But first, work.”  
Suddenly any trace of anxiousness disappeared, and for the first time all day, Vanessa was completely absorbed with excitement. Maybe it was the motherly tone of Garcia’s voice, or maybe it was the assortment of figurines and toys surrounding her computers, but something about this dark room was comforting. 

Garcia spent the next few hours with Vanessa, showing her the basics of her program; the stuff anyone could pick up on. As she was explaining how to follow a phone’s GPS on the map, a phone rang, startling Vanessa.  
“Hellooooo, my big brained beauty, I am at your service,” Garcia quipped into her cell, as she put it on speaker for the two of them to hear.  
“Two things. I need you to check Melaney’s employment history, go as far back as you can. I’m talking about high school jobs. I also have a hit on her new phone number since the one on file was out of service, so I need you to see if you can track it,” Spencer didn’t ask, he instructed, before reading off the number.  
“Yes, yes, easy peasy lemon squeezy. Vanessa, you got the phone?”  
Vanessa didn’t speak, not wanting to converse with Spencer, she just nodded and got to work. She was still a little hesitant around the system, so she knew it would take a couple extra minutes.  
Spencer didn’t speak for a moment either, but as Vanessa was coming to learn, that boy didn’t stay silent for long. “Vanessa’s there?” he questioned Garcia, as opposed to just speaking to Vanessa directly.  
“Aren’t you going to say hi?” Vanessa teased.  
“Aren’t you an intern? Shouldn’t you be bringing Garcia her coffee, not trying to intervene with the case the adults are working?” Spencer snapped. Though nothing in his tone would suggest it, she knew it had to be a joke. There was no way he was that mean.  
Vanessa dug back almost immediately, “I’m not that kind of intern, dumbass.” She didn’t mean to call him that, it just came out. It was what she called all her friends when they were joking around, the only difference being Spencer was not her friend.  
It felt like minutes passed before Garcia yelled, “Hit ya back!” and hung up the phone. 

Four days had passed, and Vanessa was loving her new job. She had finally had the chance to help out every member of the team, at least over the phone. Garcia had kept her promise and helped her pick out a desk. The catch being, there were only two available, so it was either across from Spencer or squished in with another team. Since Spencer was away, she didn’t exactly mind her new spot, but she also knew that would change the moment they had to spend a whole day just feet apart. Garcia was still insisting that the two would grow close, because according to her, no one ever disliked Spencer. But also according to Garcia, he was charming and had one of the kindest souls she had ever come across. Sure, she technically knew him much, much better than Vanessa, but somehow she found those claims hard to believe.

The case had closed, and Vanessa was working on the last bit of her paperwork when she heard the team wandering into the bullpen.  
“What are you doing there?” a shrill voice asked from behind her, and it didn’t take a genius to know it was Spencer trying to accuse her of something. He made his way to his side of the desk and took a seat, staring her in the eyes, waiting for a response.  
“This is my desk, Spencie. I’m like a real team member now.” She grinned, gesturing to her space, which she had set up with a few personal items and had organized neatly.  
He didn’t smile back, he just quietly mumbled, “Not really.”  
Spencer didn’t try to continue the conversation, but Vanessa wasn’t done. Besides, she was dying to talk to someone who wasn’t Garcia. As lovely as the woman was, Vanessa found she appreciated her more in small doses. “So, is four days, like, average? Like, for solving cases?” she asked, genuinely curious as to what to expect in the future.  
“2.367,” Spencer spoke, not looking up from the piece of paper in his hand.  
“Okay, yeah,” she replied, with an influxion in her voice that told Spencer she had no idea what he was saying.  
“That’s how many days it takes us on average to solve a case, from the time we get debriefed on the details here to the time we’re getting ready to board the jet back home.”  
Vanessa dropped everything and leaned forward. She made sure to catch his eye before speaking, “I just love how you’re so specific about everything. All your statistics? Absolutely fascinating to me. Anyone else would’ve just said it was about 2 and a half days, but you… You’re clearly so much better than anyone else, because you give exacts. Super cool.”  
Spencer subconsciously started playing with the pen on his desk, indicating he was getting upset, but beyond that, he kept his cool. He couldn’t let her win. Not that easy. “You don’t find it fascinating.”  
“No, I find it weird. And annoying.”  
Just when Spencer was about to completely rip into her, Hotch came down the stairs and interrupted. “That was a draining one, I want everyone to head home, get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he gave his farewell. Before heading to the elevator, he turned to Vanessa. “Good work, Vanessa, it’s great to have you on this team.”  
She smiled and thanked him, making sure to throw in a joke in an attempt to crack him, before turning back to Spencer, who was already on his feet and raring to go. “Night, Spence,” she spoke while gathering her things up herself.  
“Don’t call me that,” was all he said as he left the office. Something about the way he said it made Vanessa feel bad for the first time. All she was doing was wishing him well on his way out and he had to make her feel like shit over it. Over a nickname. She made a mental note that “Spence” was apparently crossing a line while she waited for the elevator that he was on to go down, so she didn’t have to leave the building with him.


	2. week two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which vanessa gets drunk and discovers a new way to get under spencer's skin.

As the team gathered at the round table, Vanessa made a point of pulling up next to Hotch. The two had spent a lot of time together around the office in the past week and she had actually grown quite fond of him. He was patient with her and never made her feel inferior for asking questions, even the stupid ones. Everyone was always calling him uptight, remarking how he didn’t have a sense of humor, but Vanessa knew better. Although she had yet to make him break, she knew he was just being professional, and he never seemed to mind when Vanessa got a little goofy with him.

“Good morning, Hotchy,” Vanessa singsonged, grabbing his iPad from in front of him to get a good look at the crime scene photos before Garcia explained the case.

Spencer was sat across from her, twiddling that fucking pen between his fingers. “Vanessa, it’s 6 in the morning, do you need to be so loud?” he whined, reaching for a sip of his coffee. 

Even after last week's long case, she had never seen Spencer look so tired. He was almost always early to work, and not once had he made a complaint about it being _too_ early. Sure today they had been called in a little earlier than usual, but Spencer just didn’t strike her as a night owl. “Late night, Spencer?” She prodded, reaching to kick him under the table but she couldn’t quite reach.

“Why do you care about how I spend my nights, Vanessa,” he groaned, palming his tired eye.

“Who was she?” Vanessa leaned forward, grinning from ear to ear, trying to read any hint Spencer gave her. 

Before he had the chance to reply, Garcia flew into the room and addressed the team, “Alright, my friends, I am so sorry, but this one is a bit of a downer.”

Without saying a word, Hotch took his iPad back from Vanessa, but positioned it so she was able to look over at the screen. Luckily, this case was happening right at home in Virginia, so the team wouldn’t be completely abandoning her for the next couple of days. 

Everyone contributed to the debriefing of what exactly they’d be looking for. Even Vanessa had an idea or two. They were shot down quite fast, but it still felt nice to be involved. Once everyone was on the same page, Hotch began assigning everyone to their tasks. “JJ and Morgan, I’ll have you down with the M.E., Rossi I want you to head down to the first crime scene. Reid, you and I will go interview the suspect who’s in police custody. Being here in Virginia means I’ll have you shadow me throughout the case, Vanessa.” Everyone nodded in agreement and started to head on their separate ways.

While Vanessa was ecstatic to actually have the opportunity to learn some more practical skills, she was a little peeved that it was going to be with Spencer. To her, it would’ve made more sense to send him to the medical examiner or to the crime scene; What was this high-pitched skinny kid going to do to interrogate a potential murderer? She levelled with herself, believing that no matter what happened, she could probably get a good laugh out of the whole thing.

Vanessa was nervous as she entered the police station. She had never stepped foot in one, despite the fact she probably deserved to a few times. It made her a little uneasy to know that the highlight she was wearing had been shoplifted from Sephora just a couple months prior, so she just took a moment to thank God she had never been caught.

“What are you thinking about?” Spencer asked, as they walked side by side, trailing slightly behind Hotch.

The question took her off guard. She despised when people asked what she was thinking about. If she wanted them to know, she would’ve simply said it out loud. Besides, most of the time she wasn’t even thinking anything at all. There wasn’t always a whole lot going on up there. “This is my first time in a cop shop,” she explained, taking in the room.

“That’s surprising,” he quipped. 

After introducing Vanessa to the sheriff, he led the pair into the interrogation room. 

“This is just like the movies,” Vanessa remarked, spinning around to look at each gray wall before heading to the one way mirror. Inside sat a man, probably larger than Hotch and Spencer combined.

“This isn’t supposed to be fun,” Spencer judged when he saw the look of amusement in Vanessa’s eyes.

After observing the suspect a moment longer, she turned to the profiler and barked, “So why did you choose to do it for a living then?”

“To help people,” Spencer replied, holding eye contact. He shrugged while speaking with a sincerity in his eyes that Vanessa didn’t feel would be appropriate to challenge. 

Accepting her defeat, she turned back to the suspect while Hotch joined on the other side of her. The three stood for a moment trying to read the man. “He doesn’t look nervous,” Vanessa profiled, though she wasn’t sure exactly what that would mean.

“Not yet,” Spencer replied, walking towards the door with Hotch following close behind.

When he saw the agents walk in, the man grinned. It left Vanessa with a gross feeling inside. She always had good intuition when it came to people, and she knew just by looking at him that he was certainly guilty of something. Unfortunately, she didn’t have anything to actually back that up, as someone's vibes wouldn’t exactly hold up in court. 

She watched intently as Hotch and Spencer worked through their interrogation, taking mental notes of how they executed their approach. The team had previously profiled their unsub as a narcissist psychopath who viewed the women he had killed as surrogates, though they were struggling with identifying who exactly they were surrogates for. In Vanessa’s fairly unprofessional opinion, it didn’t seem the boys were getting too far. While she absolutely felt herself learning some valuable tools she was hoping to get the chance to apply later, she also found herself having fun watching unknowingly timid Spencer act tough towards this monster of a man. After about an hour of back and forth, Hotch and Spencer accepted their temporary loss and stood up to walk back into the room Vanessa was standing in. 

“Am I wrong in assuming you didn’t get too much out of that?” Vanessa tried to sympathize.

Hotch remained silent, trying to replay in his head everything he had heard. Spencer’s brows were furrowed as he looked down quizzically. His jaw hung open as his tongue ran across his lips. Vanessa could tell he was thinking hard as his facial movements and expressions seemed to be a subconscious effort. “Actually, yes,” he finally spoke. He looked up, looking at Hotch then Vanessa, trying to come up with the right wording. “Yes, you’re wrong,” he swallowed before bringing his hands up to continue his monologue. Sometimes Vanessa thought the way he spoke with his hands was going to give her whiplash one day, but she also knew that was just her being dramatic. “He mentioned before that he was raised to respect women and would therefore never do something like this, but when we asked further about his family he retorted that that was personal and not relevant to the case. This was the only time he mentioned someone other than himself,” Spencer explained rather quickly. 

“That’s sus,” Vanessa replied in an attempt to help Spencer feel validated in the direction he was going. Instead, he just glared at her, implying she had overstepped and he wasn’t finished talking.

“This guy is proving to be a textbook narcissist. We need to have Garcia dig up anything she can on his family,” Spencer paused, making sure he truly believed what he was about to say before continuing, “I think the women are surrogates for his mother.”

Hotch nodded, gesturing for Spencer to continue. “See what Garcia can pull up before making any assumptions with him,” he explained. It was clear Hotch trusted any of Spencer’s instincts, but he still wanted all approaches to be done thoroughly. 

Spencer dug into his pocket and rapidly pulled out his phone and dialed for Garcia. “Hello, my pretty little brainiac, please tell me you’re giving me something to do,” she pleaded through the speaker phone. Vanessa took note that apparently “pretty little brainiac” was acceptable but “Spence” was crossing a line. In her opinion, the former seemed a little more demeaning. 

Garcia worked quickly, giving Spencer all the information he needed and then some. “I need to talk to him again,” he told Hotch, without hinting at what it was exactly he needed to talk about.

Hotch gave him the go ahead while himself and Vanessa took their positions at the window. When Spencer reapproached the suspect, he didn’t speak until he slammed both his hands down on the desk separating them, leaning far enough in that he could’ve hardly breathed out a whisper and it would have sufficed. Instead, he yelled directly at the man. 

“What the fuck is he doing?” Vanessa posed, trying not to laugh.

Hotch patiently explained the tactic and why it was going to work on this specific individual. Vanessa understood, but she couldn’t help but feel it would’ve been more effective had it been Hotch doing the screaming. Nothing about Spencer was scary. Sure he could be a little snappy, but when it came to being threatening, Vanessa got more scared walking past a group of teenagers than hearing Spencer attempt to forcefully bellow accusations.

* * *

In the police station conference room, Spencer stood staring at the bulletin board, tracing his fingers across a map. Hotch was playing and replaying certain sections of the recording from Spencer’s interrogation while Vanessa sat at the desk across from him, impatiently tapping her foot. She had finished the small amount of paperwork that was ready to be processed and was fading fast from her early rise. 

“Soooo,” she breathed out. She was not only tired, but she was starting to go stir crazy in this tiny room. Hotch looked up at her while Spencer continued tracing his finger between crime scenes. “What are you going to do? Don’t you have to either make an arrest or let him go by 24 hours?” 

Hotch decided to turn this into a teaching moment, which Vanessa was not at the brain capacity to handle. “What do you think we should do?” he quizzed.

“Let him go,” she said point blank. “Dude’s weird as hell but you don’t have any evidence. Also, you have his contact information, it’s not like you can’t change your mind later.” 

“That’s not exactly the most tactful approach,” Spencer judged, not bothering to turn around to face her.

Hotch had to agree with both of them. “It might not be tactful, but she’s right. We don’t have any evidence. I think we need to rethink our profile.”

Spencer tried to hide his disappointment - The team wasn’t usually wrong, and it was never fun to have to start over when they had worked so hard. “The profile’s not wrong,” he fought. He knew that for sure, and while the man they were holding definitely fit the description they were looking for, he couldn’t argue that they could at the very least have the wrong guy.

“Hotch, do you mind if I go grab a coffee?” she asked, knowing she was going to pass out right on the table if she didn’t fuel herself soon. “Like, not the break room coffee,” she clarified. 

Needing a pick-me-up himself, Hotch handed Vanessa a $20 and instructed her to bring him back one, as well. 

Spencer finally spun around, his ears perking up at the idea of coffee, like a dog whose owner had just called for a walk. Vanessa looked over to him, and it was no surprise he was also flashing her some unintentional puppy dog eyes while he whined, “Me too, please.”

“But, Spencie, I don’t know your order,” she whined back. She took a risk with the nickname, and while he didn’t look happy, it didn’t earn her the same outburst that “Spence” did.

“Spencer, you can go with her, I’m going to go release our suspect,” Hotch instructed.

Spencer and Vanessa walked down the street by the police station. Neither of them were sure exactly where they were going, but assumed they’d pass by a coffee shop quite quickly. As they walked on the path, Spencer tried bringing up his hand to speak, accidentally brushing Vanessa’s. “Are you trying to hold my hand, Spencer?” she joked before he had the chance to speak. Spencer grew flustered and annoyed at the accusation. 

“No-”

Vanessa laughed, loving how riled up she could get Spencer over practically nothing. “Don’t be shy,” she taunted, reaching out and grabbing his hand. 

He quickly and rather aggressively pulled his hand away. “I don’t like touching.” 

“I don’t have cooties.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” He looked down at her and smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile, however, it was one of those tight and thin-lipped smiles. The kind that showed her that he was proud of himself for his bitchy remark.

She laughed again, showing him she wasn’t actually offended. Pissing off Spencer was fun and hearing the often well-spoken and put together doctor stoop to her level was the highest form of entertainment for her. Her intention was never to create a hostile work environment, and she definitely didn’t want Spencer to hate her, despite how much she disliked him. Nothing she had said had been a lie. She found him to be incredibly annoying and everytime she thought he was growing on her, he would go off on one of his statistics tangents that made her want to rip her ears off. Although, being around Spencer wasn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world, but it wasn’t because she liked him. It was because she loved making his day a little worse by annoying the hell out of him. She knew that probably made her a bad person, but she couldn’t control it. He made it so easy. She figured as long as it didn’t escalate to them going home at the end of the day crying and that they were able to remain at least kind of professional around each other, there was really no harm in having a little fun. 

* * *

Spencer was right. She hated to admit it, but it was something she was going to have to get used to. The case closed in just under 2 and a half days and the whole crew had just finished handing their reports in to Hotch. It turned out the man they had been holding had, in fact, been a psychopath, but when the true unsub claimed another victim as Hotch was releasing him, it was evident he was not the man they were looking for.

Vanessa was the last one to hand in her work and saw everyone packing up as he headed down the stairs to the bullpen. “I am exhausted,” she practically yelled on her way over to her desk. She didn’t know how the rest of the team did it, she was hardly involved and the case had taken a significant toll on her energy levels. “I love almost all of you, but I cannot wait to not talk to anyone until tomorrow.”

“Almost all of us?” JJ pestered.

“Spencer’s got some work to do,” Vanessa explained, looking over at the boy who refused to give her more than an eyeroll in response. If he was being honest, he was getting pretty sick of always being the butt of her jokes. He wondered if it would kill her to just leave him alone for 5 minutes. He didn’t care that they didn’t get along, he knew he wasn’t going to get along with every person he met, but there was no reason for her to have made that comment. 

“Well, I’ve got some bad news for you, Vanessa,” Garcia chimed in from her position sitting on top of Derek’s desk. 

Vanessa threw herself into her chair dramatically. “Not another case already,” she groaned, looking up at her.

“No, no, don’t worry,” she soothed her with a chuckle, “Rossi’s buying everyone drinks at O’Keefe’s AND since you’re new to the family, you haven’t had a night out with us, so you have to come.”

Vanessa had never heard of O’Keefe’s, but if there were going to be drinks she didn’t have to pay for, she was without a doubt going to be there. A new burst of energy rang through her body, as she quickly stood up and threw her purse over her shoulder. “So what are we doing here?” she asked. 

The whole group celebrated as they began walking towards the elevators and towards the bar. They hadn’t had a night out in what felt like forever, so each of them were determined to make the most of it.

“May I suggest,” Vanessa spoke loudly with a sly grin, “a round of shots since it’s, like, my first night out with the gang?” 

Everyone was seated around a fairly small table that they had to pull extra chairs up to. Vanessa was squeezed between Spencer and JJ so tightly that her legs were touching both of them. She didn’t think anything of it, in fact she hardly noticed. That’s what happens when 7 people fit around a table for 5. Spencer on the other hand, grew incredibly uncomfortable.

“A round of shots it is,” Rossi exclaimed, waving a waitress over. “Seven shots, please,” he asked once she arrived.

“Six,” Spencer spoke softly.

Vanessa turned her whole body to face him and in doing so, unintentionally placed his leg ever so slightly between her thighs. “You’re getting one, what the fuck?” 

He tried not to squirm at his discomfort. “I don’t drink.”

“Like, ever?” Vanessa laughed, only slightly judging him. She knew people had completely valid reasons for not drinking, and under normal circumstances she would never pry or pressure, but nothing regarding Spencer was ever a normal circumstance. 

“Not really, no,” he shrugged. Noticing that wasn’t good enough for her, he continued, “Every so often on special occasions.”

“Is this not a special occasion?” she asked, turning her body back to receive her shot. She noticed everyone had one, one had even been slid across to land in front of Spencer. 

He laughed at her, too quietly to hear, but anyone could see it. It was one of those moments where he had to rethink where it was he stood with her. Every single thing she said was enough to make him want to scream in resentment, but she was so fucking charming about it all. “Because it’s your first night out with us?” 

“Because it’s my first night out with you!”

“Not good enough,” he said, sliding his shot away from him again.

JJ peeked over Vanessa to get a good look at Spencer. “C’mon, Spence, are you going to do it or not? We’re ready to go!” 

Suddenly Vanessa’s whole demeanor changed. Being seated with a group of profilers, she didn’t want anyone to notice, so she tried her best to smile along, but she was mad. She was infuriated. Though, she didn’t know why. Why could JJ call him “Spence” when she couldn’t? It wasn’t just that she couldn’t, it was that he got mean when she did. She wasn’t sure why this was affecting her so much. She realized JJ and Spencer had been friends for years before she had even entered the picture, but something about it still stung. Frustrated with herself for allowing herself to even care, she decided it was time to drink. And hard. “It’s fine, I’ll take yours for you,” she spoke, reaching across him to grab the shot, refusing to look at him.

As the night carried on, Vanessa could feel herself getting a little too drunk, but she didn’t mind. It wasn’t just because of Spencer, either. She was feeling genuinely happy as she conversed and joked around with the rest of the team. She hadn’t known them very long, but they were so welcoming and friendly, she felt perfectly at ease. 

Everyone else seemed to be feeling the effects, too. Rossi and Hotch had left about an hour prior, but not after loosening up a bit themselves, which was fun for Vanessa to see, considering how they usually were at work. Derek was at the pool table trying to pick up girls when JJ looked to Penelope and invited her up to the bar to get another drink, leaving Vanessa and Spencer still seated. 

“Hey,” Vanessa began, naturally putting her hand on Spencer’s thigh to address him, “Let’s go play darts.”

Spencer obliged, but mostly because he didn’t want to just sit there at the table trying to converse with an intoxicated girl who he didn’t necessarily enjoy the company of even when she was sober. Maybe he did need a drink to get through this night.

“I’m really good at this,” she slurred, throwing the first dart. She was right, she almost got a bullseye first try. Luckily, Spencer wasn’t bad himself. At least this meant it would be a fun challenge for both of them.

They mostly played in silence, which Vanessa never found awkward, but Spencer grew anxious. “So, you got Hotch tonight,” he remarked.

“What do you mean?” She scrunched her nose up, completely unsure of what it was he was referring to. Trying to rack her brain for what it was, she stumbled slightly, grabbing onto Spencer’s shoulder for support, just in case. “Sorry, sorry, you don’t like touching,” she apologized, immediately letting go. Usually she wouldn’t apologize for making him feel bad, but she understood where anxiety around touching could stem from and didn’t want to cross any non-verbal lines.

“It’s okay, just don’t think so hard, you’re going to hurt yourself,” he spewed. He knew she was just holding on for support, so he wasn’t exactly mad about it. An apology for all the leg touching might go a long way though. 

Any trace of a smile on Vanessa’s face disappeared. The last thing she wanted to hear in that moment was a dig at her intelligence. Suddenly she wasn’t feeling as bad about getting handsy. 

“I just meant you cracked him tonight,” he explained. When she didn’t reply he could feel himself burning up a little, hoping he hadn’t completely missed the mark. “That’s what you’ve been trying to do isn’t it? Make him laugh?”

Suddenly Vanessa forgot about being offended. The alcohol was definitely screwing around with her emotions. “Yeah, how’d you know? But, like, tonight doesn’t count. I’m wasted, he was drunk… It doesn’t count. I’m going to make him crack in the office,” she delivered almost like a dramatic monologue. 

Spencer laughed. He would love to see that. The pair continued with their game as Derek walked over to join them.

“Nooo!” Vanessa yelled as she saw him approaching. “You struck out?” she asked, part sympathetically and part sarcastically, placing a hand on his arm.

Spencer noticed the gesture and thought about how now that Derek was here and she was self-described “wasted’, she was just going to start putting her hands all over him. He just hoped that meant he was safe.

“No, actually,” he corrected her, “The ladies were just heading to the bathroom. I thought maybe boy genius here would like to join me when they come back.”

Vanessa grew ecstatic at the idea. “Baby boy gonna go get his flirt on?” she teased. She had seen the girls Derek was talking to and they were HOT. Way out of Spencer’s league, that’s for sure. Which, if Vanessa was being honest, might leave Spencer emotionally bruised after a night of trying to talk with them, but for her, it was going to be a hoot.

“I’m okay, thank you,” he told Derek, pursing his lips.

“Oh, come on! Don’t you want to impress them with some magic tricks?” Derek baited.

“40 year old virgin over here,” Vanessa told Derek, causing the both of them to snicker.

Spencer on the other hand, didn’t find it as funny. “I’m 33,” he reminded them.

“Still a virgin,” Vanessa mocked.

He wasn’t sure why this made him so upset. It’s not like his sexual life was any of his coworkers business. He couldn’t hide the fact he was slightly humiliated, however. “No, I’m not, thank you.” The way he spoke, hitting each consonant, would’ve been enough to make Vanessa’s ears bleed, had she not been currently inebriated. 

Derek knew this, of course. Derek was probably the only person besides Spencer who was familiar with the ins and outs of Spencer’s kind of existent, but not exactly exciting sex life. 

Seeing Spencer getting all worked up over the subject of sex was filling Vanessa with a kind of seratonin she hadn’t felt in quite a while. He said it himself, he was 33, so why did the subject get him so rattled? Just then, the girls exited the bathroom and walked back over to the pool table. “Spencer, if you don’t go try to fuck one of those girls then I will,” Vanessa said, eyes not drifting from the two girls.

“You don’t have to talk about them like that,” Spencer complained.

At this point, the alcohol had completely settled in, leaving Vanessa without a care in the world about what she did or said. “But they’re so hot. Look at them,” she pleaded, waving her hands to prompt Spencer to turn around. 

He knew they were pretty, but he wasn’t exactly in the mood for trying to pick someone up when he knew they were cooler than him and that it probably wouldn’t end well for him. 

“Don’t you just want to take them home, rip their clothes off, and dominate the hell out of them,” Vanessa asked, finally turning back to face him. She could tell he was trying to suppress any emotions, which clearly meant it wasn’t working out well for him. Knowing she’d be able to get him completely riled up, she didn’t want to quit. “They’d probably sound so fucking good moaning underneath you while you took control. C’mon, Spencer, I’ve seen you take charge. I bet you want to slam them onto a table like you did with your hands in that interrogation room the other day.” She was lying through her teeth. There was no way Spencer had a dominant bone in his body. Sure, he faked it well enough on the job, at least sort of. In the bedroom though, she knew this boy had to be all missionary all the time.

Spencer was thoroughly embarrassed. Conversations revolving around sex were generally a no-go for him anyways, but hearing someone talk about _him_ , did anything but turn him on. He was done and he wanted to go home. Besides, it was going on 1am and all of them had work the next day. “Let’s go home,” he finally said. He didn’t want Vanessa to see how uneasy this conversation was making him, so he decided to just drop it completely.

“You want to take _me_ home?” Vanessa faked flattery. 

“I’ll take that as my cue to go,” Derek said, leaving to join the girls by the pool table again. He knew they weren’t actually going home together, but he would’ve used anything as an excuse to get away.

“That’s not what I mean,” Spencer exhaled, feeling her getting under his skin worse than she had before. “I mean you’re embarrassingly drunk, it’s late, and we both have work in the morning.”

Vanessa didn’t want to leave. She was having fun, but she knew he was right. “Will you drive me home?” 

“I don’t drive,” he told her. He was just going to leave it at that, but no matter how much he despised this girl, especially right now, he wasn’t just going to leave her drunk in the bar with no way of getting home. 

“What, you want me to drive then?” she half joked but with a little too much anger in her tone.

Spencer was exasperated. She was impossible. “We’ll share a cab,” he tried to reason.

“No, I hate cabs.”

“What? Why do you hate cabs?” He started doing the thing where he overused his hands and spoke at an extremely high pitch. He was simply overwhelmed. “You want to take the subway with me?” he finally asked, thoroughly vanquished. 

“I think that would be fun.”

He rolled his eyes and turned to walk towards the door. Shocked by how quickly he was moving, Vanessa rushed after him to catch up. 

She had had fun that night. If anything, she was happy to have a new way to get at Spencer and couldn’t wait to get to work and grind his gears a little more the next day. As they walked silently to the station, Spencer occasionally held his arm out to make sure Vanessa was balanced. Even if she was doing fine, he got nervous. The events of the night kept replaying in his mind. It was one of those nights where he cursed his eidetic memory. Meanwhile, Vanessa couldn’t stop thinking about the irony of everyone calling Hotch the uptight one, when it was really Spencer who couldn’t seem to let loose. She was going to have to change that.

“Hey, Spencer,” Vanessa intruded on the silence as they stood waiting for the train. 

“Mhm,” he replied, still relatively lost in his own thoughts.

“Do you know you’re hot?” she pondered. 

That was enough to get Spencer out of his head and into the moment. “What do you mean?”

Vanessa groaned, “Do you know you’re hot? What the fuck don’t you understand?”

Spencer swallowed nervously and placed his hands in his pockets, thinking of what to say. Truthfully, he never really thought about it. It didn’t exactly matter. He definitely had days or weeks of feeling self conscious over his looks, but who didn’t? “You know,” he began, and if Vanessa wasn’t so far gone she would’ve picked up on his nervousness, “1 in 10 men actually think they’re hot.”

“So, do you?” she continued to pry. She looked up to him and while he could feel her trying to catch his gaze, he just kept looking ahead. “I would totally go home with you if it weren’t for your personality.”

“Thank you, Vanessa, that’s great to hear - That it’s not my looks which are the problem, but my personality.” He was clearly offended, but she didn’t understand exactly why. She had spent the past two weeks telling him how annoying she thought he was. 

“Don’t be such a little bitch about it,” she exclaimed, “I think you’re annoying but everyone else seems to love you.” While there may have been a sort of backhanded compliment in there somewhere, the way she spoke would suggest otherwise.

Neither of them spoke for the next few minutes until the subway arrived. When it finally did and the doors opened, Vanessa grabbed his hand to lead him on. She didn’t understand that they were having a fight. Spencer shook her off of him as he followed her, but for the rest of the ride to his stop, he couldn’t stop thinking about what would’ve happened if he had just let her hold his hand for those few moments.

  
  



End file.
